VideogameVagabond.com

How they managed it this close to release, I’ll never know, but EA Sports promises that although Brett Farve will be in green and gold on the cover, he’ll be a Jet in the game, which ships this week. In fact, in my neck of the woods, EA Sports is sponsoring an all-day Madden tournament leading up to a midnight release party for Madden 09 at the Mall of America.

Rather than worry about bathroom lighting and other household concerns, that used to be the kind of party I’d be all up for. Since getting married, however, I can now see it’s a little much just for a chance to buy a game that’ll be there later on, too.

Still, Madden is a great game again now that they wasted about four years getting the 360/PS3 versions up to speed with the previous-gen versions. Now that the features are equal, the game’s worth buying again, but you can bet EA Sports dragged its heels that long only because their exclusive license for NFL games gave them the leeway to do so.

Madden fever’s back, but I’m not afflicted with it. Thank John!

Just read a preview of Silent Hill: Homecoming for the PS3, and I have to say that even though Team Silent isn’t involved in this one, I’m really looking forward to it. The new game features a more proactive, combat-ready hero, which means that perhaps standing and fighting might become as legitimate an option as running and hiding this time out.

The screens I’ve seen are definitely in the spirit of the earlier titles, but also seem to make a generational leap, sporting a lot more detail than previous Silent Hill titles. The new, US-based team working on this one is the same team that handled Silent Hill: Origins for PSP, but that title received a port-up to PS2 and really isn’t a good indicator of how awesome the work they’re doing on SH:H is looking.

I’m glad to see that, in the absence of Team Silent, the series is still in good hands and isn’t likely to devolved into a Resident Evil clone any time soon. With Silent Hill: Homecoming, Alone In the Dark, and a new Resident Evil all announced for this year, it seems like a survival horror renassaince is in the making on next-gen platforms.

Now all we can pray for is that Tecmo’s Fatal Frame series soon makes the leap to PS2 as well. Those progesterone-dependant Japanese gals with soul-cameras in tow are always great at delivering the chills!

Sony continues to treat US gamers to limited-edition PSPs, a first for the company so reluctant to do so in the US in the PSone and PS2 era. The latest is a metallic blue PSP bundle that will come with Madden NFL 09 for PSP, a couple other items and a 1 GB memory stick duo, all for only $199.

While the crowd that hangs around the weight room waiting to work on their ellipticals may or may not be big videogame fans, nearly everyone plays Madden NFL, and the metallic blue PSP is another eye-catcher.

My only hesitation is that Madden NFL has never played close to console-like on the PSP, so while it’s a nice idea, excuse me if I hold on to my silver PSP Slim a while longer. Besides, a PSP Slim is a PSP slim; if you lack one, this is a great one to get, but it’s not worth dumping your existing PSP Slim over, since the only difference is the limited edition case color.

id Software has become the latest software publisher to exit membership from the Entertainment Software Association, which, among other things, helped establish the ESRB ratings system for entertainment software, sponsors the E3 event, and does a whole lot of other good work.

idSoft is just the latest to join a growing crowd of companies exiting the ESA. In the last couple weeks, Activision, Viviendi and LucasArts have all exited the organization. While 24 companies still remain in the ESA, rumors are swirling that more companies may join the exodus. Hey, it may not be the most exciting bit of news we’ve ever published, but it was either this or an Anoretix review.

As the sequel to Sony’s first-party survival horror title on the PS2, Siren, Siren 2: Blood Curse has been announced officially for the PlayStation 3 system, and will be distributed in unique fashion; rather than arrive on a single Blu-Ray disc at retail, the game will be delivered in 12 distinct episodes over the PlayStation Network.

The intial release is scheduled for this summer, although Sony’s press release did not detail whether all 12 episodes would be released simultaneously, or whether they would arrive over an extended release schedule. One thing’s for sure, though, you won’t be able to get it on your laptop, as the title is a PS3 exclusive.

More exciting than Corpus Christi real estate is the article I read in the latest Game Informer on Guitar Hero IV, which apparently is going more in the direction of Rock Band by adding vocals and other instruments.

I was admittedly late to the party on Guitar Hero; I never picked up the series until GHIII, but since discovering it for myself, I’ve been eager to play whenever I can. The challenge is significant and the gameplay is amazingly addictive.

But in addition to adding vocals and new instruments, the new GHIV will apparently even let you compose your own music, and boasts some very interesting upgrades to other features, including the career mode.

This is one I’ll be keeping my eye on.

It was a huge blow with Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios president Phil Harrison stepped down from that position last February after 15 years, but Sony is hoping his replacement will fill his shoes without the help of legal steroids.

The new guy is Shuhei Yoshida, who was previously Harrison’s VP. According to Kaz Hirai, “Under the leadership of Yoshida, who has [a] proven track record in managing creative talent, SCE WWS will accelerate the software development for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable platforms and vigorously expand the gaming market.”

Bold promise, Kaz! Let’s hope Yoshida’s up to the task!

Sony has finally delivered a true next-gen controller to the gaming public; the DualShock 3s arrived at retail last week, and not a moment too soon. With a bit more weight and a great feel, the return of force feedback to the Sony platform is like welcoming back a long-lost friend.

I’ve used them at in-store displays, but haven’t landed my own just yet. But tell all your friends in their alcohol rehabs that they can give up the bottle and return to PS3 gaming the way it always should have been.

Anyone want a couple slightly-used SixAxis controller? I’ll, umm, start the bidding at $10? $5? $1, anyone?

Ahh, forget it. They’re worthless crap anyway.

One game I don’t need trade show displays of to create excitement in me toward playing, once it’s released, is Final Fantasy XIII. From every bit of video footage I’ve seen, the game looks gorgeous and truly deserving to be on the PS3 platform.

While I’m not one to condemn most RPGs for not being on the cutting edge of graphics … after all, one of my favorite publishers of RPGs is NIS America … I can certainly get excitied when a title like this comes along and is on that cutting edge. While I am not sure if it will be released in 2008 or not, I can say that it is already one of my most enthusiastically anticipated games of the year.

Those wondering about the outcome of the high-def format war between Sony’s Blu-Ray Disc format and Toshiba/Microsoft’s HD-DVD format need look no further than the news coming out of the Consumer Electronics Show. With Holiday 2007 now history, the votes that matter most have been cast: consumer spending dollars.

In that battle, it is Sony’s Blu-Ray Disc format that is emerging as the winner. For the 2007 holiday season, Blu-Ray Disc outsold HD-DVD by a two-to-one margin. At the CES, Sony’s reps and movie studio partners were saying that the war is pretty much over; it’s just a matter of time now.

By contrast, the Toshiba reps were saying, “It’s too early to cast HD-DVD aside.”

Considering the sales figures, however, and the fact that a Blu-Ray Disc holds 20 GB more information than the largest-capacity HD-DVD, whose reps sound more desperate? Hands down, Blu-Ray Disc is going to be the high-def format winner, thanks in large part to PlayStation 3 sales.

These aren’t your grandparents’ air purifiers wars, kids! This is for keeps!